Dangerous Place For Love by Sam Crescent

Chapter One
     
    The plane was going down and Erik
Coldwell didn’t know how to stop it. The engines were on fire, the
crew were dead and all he had to show for his effort was a
whimpering woman, Kelly O’Donald. Great. His life couldn’t get any
fucking better.
    “ We’ve got to get off this
plane,” he shouted above the howling wind and alarms blaring
throughout the aircraft.
    Kelly sat huddled against one of the
chairs. Her tears and whimpers were driving him crazy. The mission
had been simple. To take Arthur O’Donald’s daughter to a secure
location on the coast of Italy to one of his many villas. What Erik
hadn’t taken into account were the few extra men on board who had
killed the whole crew.
    Running fingers through his hair, he
glanced all around him trying to think on his feet. Situations like
these called for fast and quick decisions.
    Working for drug runners was going to
be the death of him. At least he could finish one mission, which
was to keep Kelly safe. He took hold of the screaming blonde and
pushed her to the front of the plane and into the main cockpit. The
door was still secured. He rummaged through the supplies, looking
for anything to help him make the jump out of the plane. It helped
if he didn’t allow himself to think, only to act.
    It had been years since he’d taken the
lessons but he didn’t have much choice. He would have to go by
instinct and the vague information he could recall from his
lessons. Glancing at his watch, he tried to determine where they
would be flying over.
    “ They’re all dead,” Kelly
whispered from behind him.
    Erik turned to talk to her and held
himself still. A gun was pointed at his chest.
    “ Now, sweet thing. Where
did you get the gun?” he asked.
    The killing device in her hand shook
and he knew, even though her father had a reputation for killing
people, Kelly had never hurt anyone. Her blue eyes were wild and
the hysteria she tried to control was close to the surface. He saw
all of her reactions and knew he had to contain it.
    A gun going off right now would end
both of them.
    “ I’m here to help you,” he
soothed, taking a small step forward but holding his hands in the
air in surrender.
    “ You killed
them.”
    “ I took out the men who
posed a threat. They were here to kill you, Kelly. You know that.”
Another step moved forward and her eyes darted over his
shoulder.
    “ They said I’d be
safe.”
    Erik blinked and placed his hand over
the barrel of the gun. “You are safe. I’m here and I’ll never let
anything happen to you.”
    Slowly he took the gun out of her hand
and pulled her close to his body as her sobs filled the air. He
didn’t have much time. The plane was going down and there would be
a small window of opportunity for him to get them to
safety.
    “ They said I’d be safe,”
she whispered again and Erik closed his eyes. She wasn’t ready for
what the world was about to do to her. He hoped after this next
obstacle, she’d be strong enough to pull through.
    His life and her life depended on
it.
    “ We need to get out of this
plane.”
    “ How?”
    “ You’re going to have to
trust me.”
    Erik found the parachute he was
looking for. He would have to quickly secure her and make do with
what he remembered from his jumping days. He’d promised to keep her
safe and until he died, that was exactly what he was going to
do.
    “ I need you to hold onto
me.”
    “ Are we about to get
stranded in the ocean?” She glanced outside the window and he knew
she wouldn’t see much. Night was the worst time to consider a jump
let alone jumping with a burning and falling plane around
you.
    “ Let’s hope there are no
sharks,” he teased.
    Erik took her hand and pulled her to
his body. “I want you to face me. Wrap your arms around me and no
matter what, don’t let go.” He instructed her on the best way to
secure herself. Trying to keep his voice calm and giving as much
information as he could. Once he opened the door